MP 7,1 Lost in SSD Fog

[danallen]

A few years ago, sandisk ssd that came with my 2012 cMP blew up. Itvwas a catastrophy for reasons I don't well remember, except my backups did not include everything they should have.

Today. i am getting ready to upgrade from catalina to sequoia. I want sequoia to be on a 1T or 2T ssd. The ssd market ios confusing. Samsung 2T is $700. I see ads for 2T crucial bx500 ssd for free. $20 will put gloal tv onto your home. But opps, the crucial 500 is reported unreliable.

I found the threads focused on these products

This post is gettimg moved to my main tread

 

[Bigwaff]

Do you plan installing said SSD in one of the drive bays?

 

[MarkC426]

I have always put Samsung (sata) SSD’s in my 5.1, with zero issues for a decade.
840/850/860 evo/pro.
870 series and QVO avoid.

 

[bzgnyc2]

A few years ago, sandisk ssd that came with my 2012 cMP blew up. Itvwas a catastrophy for reasons I don't well remember, except my backups did not include everything they should have.

Today. i am getting ready to upgrade from catalina to sequoia. I want sequoia to be on a 1T or 2T ssd. The ssd market ios confusing. Samsung 2T is $700. I see ads for 2T crucial bx500 ssd for free. $20 will put gloal tv onto your home. But opps, the crucial 500 is reported unreliable.

I found the threads focused on these products

This post is gettimg moved to my main tread

At this point, is there any reason you don't want to use an NVMe SSD?

Perhaps a WD SN850X in a NVMe M.2 SSD to PCIe adapter like this?

NVMe M.2 SSD to PCIe X16/X8/X4 Card

Enjoy extremely fast transfer speeds via PCIe lanes. Includes a heatsink and thermal padding. SSD bus interface: NVMe. (NOT compatible with SATA M.2 SSD) SSD form factor: M.2 M-Key. (NOT compatible with B-Key SSD) PCI Express physical interface: PCIe x16/x8/x4 slot. Logical interface / PCIe...

sabrent.com

(you would need the without heatshink version of the SN850X for that particular adapter)

Whole thing maybe $200 for 2TB and very fast.

Just note I do not have and have not tested the above configuration...it should work in theory.

 

[reader50]

I've used the above PCIe adapter (or one just like it) for a year or two. It works, and is fast. But booting from M.2 is not compatible with anything before High Sierra. If you have every OS version installed like a developer (as I have), you still need a SATA drive present for the earlier OSes.

If you only keep macOS versions from High Sierra and up, then don't worry about this. The above PCIe adapter will give ~1.3 GB/s vs ~250 MB/s from your existing SATA bays.

If you want or need a SATA SSD, it's hard to go wrong with a Samsung EVO. 2TB Samsung 870 EVO for $150. Or if you are cautious, a Samsung 2TB 860 EVO for $235. I don't know where the OP saw $700 - maybe you were looking at a Samsung Pro SSD?

note: if you go the PCIe route, you must update your Mac Pro firmware to one of the latest versions before attempting it. If memory serves, the Mojave installers included our last firmware updates. The latest one is 144.0.0.0.0 which you can view at the top of your System Profiler report.

 

[JesterJJZ]

I used Intel SSDs in raid0 on my 5.1 for boot.

 

[reader50]

MarkC426, I edited my post. Original link is to an 870 EVO. After reading your post, and the related MR thread, I added a link to the 860 EVO.

For reference, I have a 4TB 870 EVO in my MacPro 4,1 -> 5,1 for the last 17 months. Never a problem with warm reboots, with or without OCLP present. There's a Mushkin SSD in another SATA bay, so my 870 EVO is not the sole SATA drive. Plus my M.2 drives of course, and a large Seagate HD.

OCLP is installed on the 4TB 870 EVO EFI partition, so a warm reboot fail would be really obvious. No OCLP boot selector, and no rebooting into anything past Monterey. I cannot remember this problem ever happening, so maybe I got one of the good 870 EVO batches. Wasn't even aware of the 870 questions until you mentioned it here.

 

[danallen]

At this point, is there any reason you don't want to use an NVMe SSD?

Today, NVMe became my plan. I had been steering away from NVMe, because I had a false understanding about its history. That false understanding had me seeing "problems" that existed no where but in my imagination.

NVMe became my plan when a supplier of "
500Gb SSD that will plug right into your Mac Pro and turn it onto a Sequoia , Mac.
Metal compatible Video card recommended
Your Stock wifi will not work with this without a patch
if you want to use wifi please let me know so I can steer you in the right direction.
This is For the SSD only.
Open Core Software "

Recommended:
My suggestions. Go nvme. This will make your computer a powerhouse. You cannot upgrade the ram to anything faster. An Nvme will read and write around 1500mbps will an ssd will only get you you around 300mbps in real world testing. , You need to make sure you have the latest boot rom firmware revision to make this happen.



This vendor also tells me it is unwise to introduce virtual systems because whatever those virtual systems might be, they run natively in MacOS without the overhead of virtual systems.

I am certain the vendor is correct in everything he presents. However, I have been running three debian servers under VMWare Fusion since 2014. I want to keep those debian systems in the worlds where they are, but move them VMWare on Catalina to VMWare on Sequoia. For all I know, Sequoia with Open Core cannot run VMWare

I am posting this question to another thread.

 

[danallen]

Do you plan installing said SSD in one of the drive bays?

I have so much blindness in critical areas of this technology, the only firm part of this is I need do move from Catalina by June because many websites will not respond to browsers that Catalina can support.

My current "design", which could all be abandon quickly, is NVMe with pcie to nvme adapter. Not Sata.

**********************************
I’m currently in the process of drafting personalized responses to many of the kind individuals who have shared invaluable information with me. I truly need some time to absorb everything.

At the same time, today I began discussions with a vendor offering a solution that makes a lot of sense and will save me significant effort. This vendor is also presenting perspectives that I need to fully grasp. To do that, I plan to share a detailed presentation of their information, highlighting areas where I still have questions. Once I do that, I will send the post to everyone who has been involved in these discussions. While the content might not seem like much to you, it’s crucial to the upgrade I’m working on. I sincerely hope you’ll be able to read it and provide any feedback you think is helpful when I share it in the next 48 hours.

Thank you again.

I’ve shared many thoughts in these threads, but none more true than this: I am not worthy.

 

[danallen]

I have always put Samsung (sata) SSD’s in my 5.1, with zero issues for a decade.
840/850/860 evo/pro.
870 series and QVO avoid.

My perspective in this area: I was 100% misinformed about Samsung ssd on MacPro. I believe what you wrote is 100% valid.

 

[danallen]

I've used the above PCIe adapter (or one just like it) for a year or two.

Is this the adaptor you are referrring to ?

NVMe M.2 SSD to PCIe X16/X8/X4 Card​

Enjoy extremely fast transfer speeds via PCIe lanes. Includes a heatsink and thermal padding. SSD bus interface: NVMe. (NOT compatible with SATA M.2 SSD) SSD form factor: M.2 M-Key. (NOT compatible with B-Key SSD) PCI Express physical interface: PCIe x16/x8/x4 slot. Logical interface / PCIe...

sabrent.com


********************************

The following is block of text I am sending to many individuals.

Right now, I am drafting indvidualized responses to many of the kind people who have taken time to post information good as gold. I need to soak all that in.

At the same time, today I opened negotiation with a vendor who is offering a solution I that makes great senxe and will save me a lot of work. This vendor is also providing perspectives that I need to understand more completely. To accomplish that, I am going to post as complete a presention as I can of his information, focusing on areas I am not sure about. When I do that, I will address that post to every individual who has been participating in the dicussions with me. That body of information in that post might not be much to you, but it will be very critical to the upgrade I am working on. I very much hope you will be able to read and respond as you see fit to that post coming up in the next 48 hours.

Thank you.

I have said a few things that might be true in these threads, but none truer than this: I am not worthy.

 

[reader50]

Is this the adaptor you are referrring to ?

NVMe M.2 SSD to PCIe X16/X8/X4 Card​

Mine is a RIITOP NVMe Adapter which appears to be the same device. Probably made in the same factory, with different badging for different vendors.

I've since upgraded to a McFiver multifunction card. However, the 10Gb ethernet port only works up to Monterey. Besides the ethernet, the card has 2x M.2 bays plus 2x USB-C 10Gb channels. Not sure if that is worth $300 to you. It's hard to go wrong with the simple PCIe adapter.